Monday, February 29, 2016

Well I was a LITTLE too ambitious in thinking I would get much done yesterday, let alone craft. I spent the better part of 4 hours logging my 564 pictures … and uploading about 300 more to print. Ugh. What a Gong Show. Who knew I took that many picture since July?? I guess they add up - a few hundred on our Hawaii vacation and then birthday, Christmas, back-to-school, Halloween and LOTS of animal pictures. Thank God for Project Life! Once I get eh next batch back from Costco it shouldn't take TOOOOO long to slap 'em in albums!

I didn't get to my Craft Cave - I wanted to try colouring white embossed images with my eyeshadows … maybe today. In the meantime here is what started my eyeshadow obsession … I colored these adorable little Easter treats with them. Check it out!

Aren't they sweet? They really were faster to put together than I expected. I started by making the triangle boxes with the Pyramid Pals framelits. I'm always happy when I get use out of some the bigger ticket items I buy! Top tips for putting the boxes together …

Once you have the pieces cut out, fold on the score lines IN - by that I mean fold INTO the scored crack - not away from it. If you fold away the paper often cracks and/or cuts right through, wrecking the project. When you fold IN to the crack the integrity of the paper isn't compromised and all is well!

Use Fast Fuse to tape the bottom of the box together

Use Tear n Tape on the one side

Once the box is filled with your treats use 2 glue dots to close the box. This will hold the treats in but allow the recipient to get the treats OUT without destroying the box

You're welcome :)

Here are some pics of what I meant about folding INTO the crack ..

Right. Now that the box is made, on to the fun part - decorating it!

I stamped the wee lamb on Whisper White using Archival Black ink and punched it out with the 2 1/2" circle punch. I then grabbed my shimmery eyeshadow that I purchased at Dollar Tree for just this purpose (honestly - I don't wear glue, pink and/or chartreuse eyeshadow - haven't since I was 15! lol)

I simply used the REALLY cheap applicator brush that came with the eyeshadow to rub the colour on the lamb. So easy!

I used a 3/4" x 3" strip of Wild Wasabi card stock, snipped it with my Fringe Scissors, attached it with more Tear n Tape then went to work on the sentiment. I found the perfect Easter Wishes stamp in a retired Hostess Set "Something to Celebrate". Stamped it in Archival Black and punched it out with the small oval punch. I attached it with dimesionals.

Oh! What did I put inside them? 25 Smarties. What did I put them in? Little teeny ziploc bags I bought at Dollarama. They fit perfectly!

Whilst I designed these for Easter Treats wouldn't they be SO cute to use as name-card holders for your Easter Table? Just write each person's name on the oval in place of the sentiment. So cute!

Hope I inspired some Easter fun! Pop back soon to see if I ever get around to colouring my embossed images with my eyeshadow. Until then - have a stampy day!

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Feels like this weekend has lasted forEVER with the kids being off Thursday and Friday. That's a good thing in that I have had a lot of relaxation time - a bad thing in that I haven't been TOO productive for days. I keep reminding myself "not EVERY day needs to be productive" but if I could just kick it up a notch I would be REALLY close to the bottom of my "to-do" list. I've started logging my 564 printed pictures, another 30 minutes and my taxes are ready to submit to the accountant, 20 minutes and the kids' diaries will be up-to-date …. we'll see what I can accomplish today … right after my post :)

I am SOOOOO excited to post this project. The cards itself won't set the card-making world on fire but the TECHNIQUE … well, the technique has me giddy with excitement for all the possibilities. Why? I have re-invented one of my favourite techniques "Poppin' Pastels". Remember 5 years ago Stampin' Up sold pastel chalks in all their exclusive colours? I LOVED using them and made it my mission to own all of the chalks. Of course once I got them all they retired. I was sad. Recently I've been looking at so many of our stamp sets and thinning they would be SO great used with that technique. how could I do that? Sure, I COULD still use the chalks I have … but that wouldn't do anything for my fellow stampers who DON'T have the chalks … so for months I've been wanting to reinvent the technique using something we all have scads of … EYESHADOW! Yup. I now give you the "Poppin' Eyeshadow Technique" …

So so so so SO glimmery/iridescent in "person"!

First - how I did it …

Quite simply I stamped a line image (the rose from Rose Wonder in the 2016 Occasions Catalogue) using Versamark ink on Whisper White card stock. I grabbed my finger daubers, dipped them in eyeshadow and dabbed over the image. Simple as that!!

I actually tried this with a number of different eyeshadows - one was bought at Dollar Tree for … a dollar *lol*. I bought it specifically FOR this technique and yes, it worked just fine. Like most things though you get what you pay for. I liked the shimmery colour but it was very powdery and "cheap". That's ok though - do we need high quality eyeshadow for crafting?? No.

(Yes, I tried using eyeshadow on another project - hint above *lol* - that will be one of my next posts … stay tuned!)

So no … you don't need high quality eyeshadow - just use what you have in your bathroom drawer. I have LOTS around and really wanted to try out some of the beautiful, shimmery colours I have in my Younique stash. About a year and a half ago I bought the Younique "Starter Kit". It was a great deal and I justified it by thinking "no, I won't use all 25 colours of eyeshadow but I have tweens whom I'm SURE will be into shimmery blue soon".

I grabbed a shimmery pink and a shimmery green (I forget their specific names - if interested let me know!). They look absolutely AMAZING on this card in the sunlight!! I can't stop looking at it. Seriously. It's awesome! The BEST part is that the colour doesn't wipe, smudge or smear! I was worried about that but I wiped it with my fingers and it stay put!

Just LOOK at all the colour options I have to play with!

Yes I feel a whole new obsession coming on. I coloured with the eyeshadow yesterday (the little Easter lamb) and today I want to try colouring white embossed images. Yup - my back is going to be angry tomorrow! *lol*

I hope you get some inspiration to try something new today. Think outside the box and have some fun … and have a stampy day!!

Friday, February 26, 2016

Lots to do today with packing customer orders, making treats for their bags and prepping for my class tomorrow. Add to that hitting a few store for supplies, picking up Alicia, exercising and dog walking and I'm up and at 'em early again today!

Thought I'd share another video today. This is a set I don't own. Rebecca likes it for the humming bird image - alas - whilst I love the final look of all the images they are too fiddly for my liking. Never say never, though … I often end up buying sets I don't originally love …. and those ones often end up being my faves!

I find i interesting when I watch these videos that they don't use the paper piercing mat to when using photopolymer sets. Their stamping surfaces must be VERY sturdy. Without using the mat I can rarely get a clear, crisp image. I highly recommend purchasing the $5.75 mat and using it every time you use photopolymer.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Ahhhh peace and quiet. any other moms get up early just so they can sit and enjoy while the children sleep?? The kids are off today and tomorrow (Teachers' Convention). Thought I'd get up at the usual time. THEY may have the day off but Mom never does, right? Workouts still need to be done, dog still needs to walked, dinner still needs to be made … only thing different for me is I will have two humans making demands on me WHILE I do all of the above *lol*. I'm taking Leeshy to Mom and Dad's after lunch to sleep over and spend some quality "building" time with Papa. They are making a little BBQ for her Journey Girl doll. It's SO stinkin' cute - and she LOVES making things with Dad. he helped her earn her woodworking badge for Brownies a few years back and more recently they made wooden Christmas ornaments for everyone. She adores Dad and is learning some great skills. Of course Dad covets their time together. Nothing makes him happier than spending time with my girls AND spending time teaching them things. He is a very smart (and wise!) man with so many great stories and life lessons. I love that they love spending time with him. Long may it last!!

Yesterday I spent about 8 hours in my Craft Cave. That would normally be my idea of Heaven - alas I just couldn't get the creative juices flowing!!1 It was seriously painful! Nor just from a frustration level but when I finally packed it in my back was killing me and my shoulders were literally up around my ears. SO frustrating!

I dID manage to come up with two cards that weren't complete and utter garbage. Here is one of them. The more I look at it the more I like it :)

It uses the FREE SAB set "Flowering Fields" as well the retired set "Loving Thoughts". I love that retired set because all the sentiments are the same size which means stampers at my Stamp-A-Stacks can switch the sentiment to suit their needs. This card would work for most occasions - right up my alley!

I stamped the images (and sentiment) in Archival Black ink and used the Wink of Stella Gold to add a little colour to the flowers. I also used my Pear Pizzazz marker to add a touch of green. I didn't colour every leaf or petal - just some. I stamped the butterfly and punched it out with my 3/4" circle punch, coloured it with Wink (and black) and popped it up on a dimensional. The sentiment is popped up as well, after attaching a slice of a doily and our (retired) gold cord (ohhhhh how I wish we carried that cord all year long - the circles make themselves for a quick and fuss-free embellishment!)

It's hard to tell from the picture but there is a hint of Pear Pizzazz as a mat. The top white layer measured 5" x 3 3/4" - the Pear Pizazz mat is 5 plus two ticks x 3 3/4" plus two ticks *lol*. (I hate when I have to think … I believe the REAL size is 5 2/16 x 3 14/16" …. but that hurts my head … so go with just over 5" x 3 3/4" ok??)

That's it for today … I will post my other "non-sucky" card soon … and the key-UTEST little Easter treat … so pop in again soon. Until then - have a super stampy day!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

MAN I'm loving life this week! Nothing pressing on the calendar just chipping away at little things I want to get done in and amongst being Suzie homemaker - cooking, cleaning, baking. Add to that the beautiful winter we've had (I'm back to walking Koda in shoes … with no socks!) and the healthy living I'm into these days and I'm feeling ga-RATE!

Another thing on my "to-do" list was to post a tutorial for my Split Negative I created for my Technique Class last month. Ack! I just realized I didn't even post the CARD here yet! Well! Let's rectify THAT right now!! Here is the card ...

Isn't it great?? I LOVE how it turned out! So striking. The other thing I love is that it can be used for so many different occasions! Wedding, Birthday, Sympathy … virtually any occasion. My kind of card! It's certainly not a quick card. Easy … but not quick. Here's a photo tutorial for you.

Before anything else I started by punching out two roses from the Rose Garden Thinlet set. One in white and one in black.

I grabbed a standard Whisper White base and cut two mats - one in black and one in white - both measure 2" x 5 1/4". I used a post-it-note simply to hold the two mats together. This step is certainly not necessary. I just stuck them together with the note, turned the "now-one" mat over just so I could then take my punched out rose and see exactly where I would like it to be placed.

In the picture below I'm just showing you what I mean … When the two pieces are stud together I could lay the rose down on top of the mats to make sure it would fit.

In the picture below I have picked up the stuck-together mats, pulled off the white one and then, using my paper snips, cut the white rose along the edge of the black mat.

I now have my full black rose and a partial white rose.

Using my Fine-Tip Glue pen I glued the white part-rose on top of the black rose .. like this ...

You now have your two-toned rose. After that you simply assemble. Adhere you black and white mats to your card base, use your fine-tip glue pen to glue the entire rose to the card and then finish as desired ...

I used the birthday sentiment that is from then Rose Wonder Stamp set, added some rhinestones, punched the sentiment out with the framelit (Rose Garden framelit), popped it up on dimensionals and wa-low! An awesome card!

Great! Another thing off my to-do list! Next up - finalize what cards we're doing at my March 6th Stamp-a-Stack. Oh sure, I have lots already made we COULD use … but I'm craving something new. Stay tuned … and have a stampy day!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Right - so next time I say I'm gunna do a post don't believe me *lol*. I had every INTENTION of posting on Sunday but … well … I'm just getting to darn good at this relaxing business! Mind you I didn't really do a lot of relaxing per se … by noon I was fairly bored. "How bored??" I hear you cry. So bored that I actually did my workout video to kill some time! Now THAT'S bored! OK - it was also to procrastinate on my "one-day" list. I'm getting so caught up on things that I'm reaching the bottom of my list! I had a few options - none of which appealed to me. a) do my taxes or b) upload 500 pictures from my phone to Costco to get printed. Ugh. Since y workout video only took half an hour I had no alternative - I actually did both a) AND b). Not only did I do that but I also filled in some forms that have literally been on my fridge since September!! Yesterday I ran around actually submitting those forms (mainly so I could attend camp with Alicia's class in May). Gotta say - getting THAT off my to-do list felt GREAT!!

That brings us to today! Spent the morning working out, walking the dog and cleaning, then I threw some soup on to cook and had 45 minutes left before I had to pick up mini-me. What to do? Hmmmmm - well - given that the stupid full moon of stupidness had me awake ALLLLLL night I thought maybe a 15-20 minute nappy-poo would be a great way to kill some time. Alas … "someone" had other ideas. I opened one eye to see THIS staring at me …

I TRIED to ignore him. Next thing I know he's poking me with his paw!

Sigh. So much for that idea! So now HE'S sleeping and I'm blogging. Humph. Some days … lol

So how about a project already??? OK! Ready???

Ta-Da! What d'ya MEAN "what is it?"? It's a perpetual calendar, of course!! I love it!

A few months ago I came across this great project from one of the Stampin' Up Artisans Cindy Schuster over at www.nutmegcreations.blogspot.com

Soooooo key-UTE! I "pinned" it to make my own once I got the Large Numbers Framelits. Actually this project convinced me to GET the framelits. I WANTED them but until I saw this wasn't sure I *needed* them. Turns out I did! *lol*. Whilst I LOVE her version and I thought it would make a great class, it really does't go with my decor … and didn't think it would with too many of my stampers … so I cmd up with my own version.

I found a frame with four 4" x 6" openings. I removed the glass and used some retired Black and White DSP I have been hoarding to cover the openings. I just used some Tear and Tape to secure the paper to the back of the frame. I then cut some Whisper White card stock to which I attached all the punched out numbers. I used our multipurpose glue but any adhesive would work. I used one of my Paper Pumpkin sets to stamp the months in various colours. I stamped the month in the middle first then again and again and again (without reining) to get an ombre effect. Finally I grabbed my "Enjoy the Little Things" stamp set as well as a few retired sets to stamp some inspirational phrases. I punched out some butterflies with my Thinlits (attached those with glue dots and I was almost done. I used some Island Indigo card stock to frame the white hanging cards and adhered them to the frame. I then headed to Dad's workshop (aka his basement) to steal … I mean borrow … his little hand held drill. I drilled holed right through the frame backing and screwed in some hooks. Only problem is I didn't take into account the "dip" in the hooks so the cards are no longer centred on the Island Indigo mats. Grrrrr. I still have to red rill the holes a little higher. Seriously. I won't be able to sleep with the cards off centre *lol*

Oh! I forgot to mention … each of the whisper white cards has some wash tape attached at the top and all the corners were rounded with my Project Life corner rounder punch.

Done! I love how it turned out. Only trouble is the wall I want to hand it on isn't wide enough! Ack! I need a VERTICAL frame! Sigh. Back to the drawing board *lol*

Do you love this project? Are in you in the Edmonton Area and free this Saturday (Feb 27th) morning around 11:00 am? If so come on over! I'm holding a class to make it! $35 ($30 for current club members). You can have the frame in white, black, melon mambo or tempting turquoise. Just make sure you RSVP before Friday at noon so I can prep the supplies!

FYI we are also making these little notecards I posted the other day - 10 for $20 in 30 … 10 notecards and envelopes for $20 in about 30 minutes. Again, RSVP before Friday noon if you want to join us!

So that's it for now. Thanks for popping in. Have yourself a stampy evening!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

I'm going to try my best to post a project today after my 2 day headache from hell …. in the meantime, another video of a NEW Sale-a-bration offering. From now until March 31 you can get this 3-pack of glitter tape with a $60 purchase.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

I agree with Brandi - who doesn't want a stamp set called PARTY PANTS?? *lol* Anyone with tweens is likely familiar with the show "Jessie" … and yes, one of the young "nerds" in the show is famous for having different pants for every occasion - play date pants, chess pants, dinner pants and PARTY PANTS! Of course in my world my favourite days are those where "pants are optional" … but if I HAVE to wear pants I'd be more than happy to wear the party kind!

Check out the video and samples … and if I can help you place an order of $60 or more drop me a line :)

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

I'm ROCKIN' it today so no time to chat … just wanted to let you all know that three new FREE Sale-a-brations items have been added to the offerings as of today. With every $60 purchase you get to chose one of the three new items! Can't wait to get my hands on them!

Drop me an email if you would like to place an order …. and have a stampy day!

Monday, February 15, 2016

What a FAB day I had yesterday!! Not EVERYONE would say that when they had a house full of other people's kids but I had the BEST group of little crafters EVER!

My 10 year old, Alicia, and her friends are totally into "Journey Girls" - like the "American Dolls" - they are 18" dolls that they just LOVE! Long story short we had her friends come over to make accessories for their little dolls. It was a RIOT! They were SOOOOO quiet and well behaved! They just crafted for 3 hours without a peep … and came up with the cutest little items! Sure, it helped that I have most of a Michaels store in my Craft Cave and helped them brain storm on a few things but I left them to it (HUGE for a recovering control freak like me!) and they ran with it. Check out some of the stuff they made …

They designed shopping bags, coffee cups, popcorn buckets, Jiffy Pop popcorn, popsicles, cotton candy, cupcakes, notebooks, paintbrushes, sandals and who knows what else when I wasn't looking! THIS is why I have a craft cave. Whatever they needed I had. Soooooo fun!

So that was my Sunday. Today is a holiday in most provinces - Family Day. Day off for everyone - wa hoo! More crafting in my future … of the paper-crafting variety!

I managed to get some crafting in Thursday night. I didn't have the time or energy to do it but I MADE the time, because it was important. I wanted to give two of the nurses that looked after my dad a little pack of Thank You cards. They were just SO sweet and caring and really went above and beyond their "jobs". Mom and I were SO appreciative so after I got home, had dinner, tidied up etc etc etc I headed to the craft cave. I needed to finish the teachers' Valentines and then … around 7:00 pm I decided I just HAD to make some notecards. It took me about half an hour to settle down and create anything I liked. In fact I had NO juices flowing so I headed to my binder of cards I've made (yes, I have a copy of every single one I have ever made *lol*) and ended up CASEing something I made years ago. It was SO quick and easy. After 2 hours I had 18 notecards and envelopes ready and packaged up to give away. I absolutely love how they turned out … and will be offering it as a class very soon. Check them out ...

First I grabbed my Whisper White Note Cards and Envelopes. If you don't have at LEAST 2 packs of these in your stash at any one time hang your head in shame. They are a MUST for any self-respecting crafter. Seriously. Get some! You get 20 in a pack for $7.95 (Canadian). Can't beat that deal with a stick, as Dad would say.

I cut a 3" x 3" piece of Lost Lagoon paper and a 2 3/4" x 2 3/" piece of Whisper white. I stamped the flower from Flowering Fields FREE Sale-a-brations set in Black Archival Ink (or Memento - both work). I then grabbed my aqua painter and simply picked up some ink from the lid and scribbled the colour over the image. It does NOT get any easier than that!!

For a little added touch I used 16" of silver thread attached to the back, stamped the sentiment from the What I Love FREE SAB set in black, popped the image up on dimensionals and wa-LOW! Done!

Grabbed my SU guested bags, put the cards inside, grabbed the tags I pre-made last week (sooooo glad I did THAT!) and BAM! Done and ready to roll. Quick was the name of the game as I needed to leave bright and early to ice Dad up at the hospital across town. These little gifts made me SOOOO happy. The nurses weren't on shift Friday morning but we left them with a nice card signed by Dad.

Nope - I really didn't have a lot of time to do this but luckily SU makes quick and easy cards EASY in a pinch. Little thank you gifts are SUCH a joy to give and really DO matter. People don't say Thank You nearly enough these days. We're happy to complain about bad service etc but just do't make the time to be grateful for the little things. Be grateful. Be generous. Be kind. Give little gifts from the heart. They DO make a difference.

Whatever you get up to today I hope you have a super stampy day. Off I go to spend some quality family time with the people I love most in the world. xoxo

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Right! I'm fairly caught up on my "essential" meals and paperwork … so I thought I'd spend the 2 hours of peace and quiet of the morning (my family sleeps in … I don't!) getting caught up on projects I have wanted to share with you. Normally I would do 1 post per project … take somewhat decent pictures and explain the details of what I used and/or how they are done. Not this time. "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" is one of my favourite sayings … sometimes "good enough" is …. well, good enough! So here is a post of LOTS of projects … mostly designed and made by OTHER people … without details … just some eye candy that may inspire you. If you have any questions on them drop me a comment and I'll try to answer them.

I try to ALWAYS give credit to the creator .. again … let's not get bogged down in the detail. If I know the designer off hand I'll mention them - I honestly don't want to leave the couch to go get the card and figure out who made it … my apologies to the designers. I just don't have it in me today lol.

Show and Share (still can't wrap my head around how to make this one - will have to google it lol)

Valentines I made for Alicia's class using last years PAper Pumpkin Kit

Valentines I made for all the teaching staff (too bad Alicia forgot to hand them out - ack!)

So there you have it - MOST of my "old" files - blurry pictures with shadows of my hands, minimal detail and not giving proper credit where credit will do. I hope the creators will forgive me.

Do pop in again soon - I do have 3 detailed posts lined up with a tutorial for my Split Negative Card as well as a few classes I have that will be FUN! In the meantime, go, have fun … don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and have a stampy day!

About Me

Hello!
I am a SAHM to two GREAT kids, a wife to a GREAT man and a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I LOVE all things crafty and I absolutely LOVE what I do! Please know that the content in this blog is my sole respoinsibility as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and the use of and content of this blog is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!
Thank you for popping in - I hope you find a project you like and leave inspired!